Nozzle assembly for a faucet or tap

ABSTRACT

A nozzle assembly for a tap, or faucet, including a first nozzle and a second nozzle arranged side by side. The second nozzle has a flared discharge end which flares outwardly in front of the discharge end of the first nozzle so that the two discharge ends overlap. The nozzle assembly may be incorporated as a self-contained nozzle unit for fitting to a faucet. The nozzle assembly is particularly suitable for faucets designed to dispense water and foam soap separately over the basin of a sink.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of United Kingdom Application No.1215020.7, filed Aug. 23, 2012, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with a nozzle assembly for a faucet,in particular a faucet which separately dispenses water and foam soap.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

‘Combined’ faucets are sometimes installed in commercial washrooms,designed so that they are able separately to dispense water and soapover the basin of a sink, as required by the user. This avoids the needfor separate stand-alone soap dispensers to be provided in the washroom.

US2007/0152082A1 describes one of these combined faucets. Here, the soapis aerated upstream of the nozzle and dispensed as a foam, rather thanin liquid form. This reduces soap usage per use cycle.

An object of the present invention is to try to provide an improvednozzle assembly for a tap, or faucet. The nozzle assembly is intendedprimarily for dispensing foam soap and water, although the invention isnot limited as such.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a nozzle assemblyfor a tap, or faucet, the assembly comprising a first nozzle and asecond nozzle arranged side by side, the second nozzle having a flareddischarge end which flares outwardly in front of the discharge end ofthe first nozzle so that the two discharge ends overlap.

The invention provides a relatively compact nozzle assembly, effectivelyby arranging the second nozzle so that it overlaps in front of thedischarge end of the first nozzle. This differs from the conventionaltwin-nozzle arrangement in US2007/0152082A1, in which the discharge endsof the water nozzle and the foam soap nozzle are arranged side-by-side,but do not overlap one another. The invention thus allows a larger totaldischarge area to be packaged within a comparable-sized nozzle assembly.

The discharge end of the second nozzle may be conical (includingfrusto-conical), but this is not essential.

The flared discharge end of the second nozzle may be a separate partwhich fits onto the end of a supply duct forming part of the secondnozzle. Thus the discharge end may be interchangeable with otherdischarge ends to vary the overlap between the discharge ends of thenozzles, according to specification. The discharge end may engage theduct section in a simple push-fit.

The first nozzle may at least partly surround the second nozzle. Forexample, the first nozzle may comprise two or more branches extendingalong opposite sides of the second nozzle: the discharge end of thefirst nozzle being formed by the respective discharge ends of thedifferent branches. Alternatively, the first nozzle may have an annulardischarge end surrounding the second nozzle and the second may projectout beyond an outer wall of the annular discharge end of the firstnozzle. In any event, the second nozzle may be arranged so that itoverlaps in front of the discharge end of the first nozzle on both sidesof the second nozzle. This is a particularly compact arrangement. Thesecond nozzle may be arranged so that the flared discharge end of thesecond nozzle overlaps with the discharge end of the first nozzle aroundthe entire perimeter of the second nozzle. This may conveniently beachieved by providing the second nozzle with a conical discharge end,for example.

The first and second nozzle may share a common partition wall, which maydivide the discharge ends of the two nozzles, or at least divide asection of the nozzles. If the first nozzle has an annular dischargeend, then this common partition wall may form the inner wall of theannular discharge end and at the same time constitute an outer wall ofthe second nozzle. The partition wall may project out beyond the end ofan outer wall of the annular discharge end of the first nozzle, in whichcase the projecting end of the common wall may define the flareddischarge end of the second nozzle. Alternatively, the common wall maydefine a supply duct forming part of the second nozzle, and thedischarge end of the second nozzle may be provided as a separate partwhich fits onto the end of the supply duct.

The nozzle assembly may be incorporated as part of a self-containednozzle unit for fitting to a faucet.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a faucet which isfitted with the nozzle unit, or which otherwise comprises the nozzleassembly.

The faucet may be arranged for separately discharging foam and water.Thus, an arrangement may be provided comprising the faucet, the faucetbeing arranged for connecting an intake end of the first nozzle to awater supply and for connecting an intake end of the second nozzle to asupply of foam. The faucet may be installed next to the basin of a sinke.g. in a commercial washroom, with the first nozzle connected to awater supply and the second nozzle connected to a supply of foam. Thesupply of foam may be a supply of foam soap, specifically.

A relatively large discharge area is particularly beneficial whendispensing foam from a faucet, because users often perceive avoluminous-looking foam product as being rich and luxurious. This isparticularly the case for foam soap, and this may be specified inhotels, health clubs etc. At the same time, utilising the invention toprovide a relatively compact nozzle assembly allows for incorporation ofthe nozzle assembly in a more minimalist design of faucet.

The flared discharge end of the second nozzle advantageously deceleratesthe foam prior to discharge. A mesh screen may be provided over thedischarge end of the second nozzle to act as a turbulator for aeratingthe decelerating foam immediately prior to discharge. This may improvefoam consistency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a two-dimensional representation illustrating the concept ofnozzles having overlapping discharge ends in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a two-dimensional representation further illustrating theconcept of nozzles having overlapping discharge ends;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a nozzle unit incorporating a nozzleassembly in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a part-sectional view through the nozzle unit shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the main parts of the nozzle unit shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the nozzle unit fitted to the spoutof a faucet, intended to dispense both foam soap and water over thebasin of a sink;

FIG. 7 is a sectional corresponding to FIG. 6, illustrating discharge offoam through the nozzle assembly; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 6, illustratingdischarge of water through the nozzle assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a two-dimensional representation intended to illustrate thebasic concept of the invention. It depicts two nozzles arrangedside-by-side. The first nozzle 1 has an open intake end 3 and an opendischarge end 5. The second nozzle 7 likewise has an open intake end 9and an open discharge end 11. The discharge end 11 of the second nozzleis a flared discharge end, which extends outwardly in front of thedischarge end 5 of the first nozzle 1. The degree of overlap is given asΔD. The outside diameter, D, of the two nozzles 1, 7 is thus the sum oftheir individual diameters (d₁+d₂) minus the overlap ΔD—a more compactarrangement than if the discharge ends 5, 11 of the two nozzles 1, 7 didnot overlap (ΔD=0). The flared discharge end 11 is in this exampleasymmetric.

FIG. 2 illustrates an arrangement in which the first nozzle 15 surroundsthe second nozzle 13. The first nozzle 15 comprises two separatebranches 15 a, 15 b which extend along opposites sides of second nozzle13. Each branch has a respective discharge end 19 a, 19 b which togetherform the discharge end of the first nozzle 15. The second nozzle 13 isprovided with a symmetric, flared discharge end 17, which extendsoutwardly in front of the respective discharge ends 19 a, 19 b of bothof the branches 15 a, 15 b, so that the total overlap is 2 ΔD. This is aparticularly compact scheme.

FIG. 3 illustrates a nozzle 21 unit which incorporates a nozzle assemblyaccording to the present invention.

The nozzle assembly comprises two nozzles: a foam nozzle 23 fordispensing foam soap and a water nozzle 25 for separately dispensingwater.

The foam nozzle 23 comprises a cylindrical foam supply duct 27 and aflared discharge end 29 which push-fits onto the lower end of the supplyduct 27 (see also FIG. 4).

The water nozzle comprises an annular intake manifold 31 (FIG. 4) whichextends around the central foam supply duct 27 and a basket 33, the openupper end of which clips onto a mounting flange 35 immediately above theintake manifold 31.

The lower end of the basket 33 forms the discharge end of the waternozzle. It comprises an annular, self-supporting grille or screen 37,which extends between the outer wall 39 of the basket 33 and a centralboss 41.

The foam supply duct 27 extends down through the inside of the basket 33and projects out through the bottom of the basket 33 via a reversecounter-bore 43 in the central boss 41. The wall of the foam supply duct27 thus acts as a common partition wall between the two nozzles 23, 25.

The reverse counter bore 43 forms an annular channel around the lowerend of the foam supply duct which allows push-fitting of the dischargeend 29 onto the lower end of the foam supply duct 27.

For ease of assembly, the nozzle unit 21 comprises four separateparts—shown in FIG. 5—which are then clipped together to form the nozzleunit 21. The first part 45 comprises the intake manifold 31, the centralfoam supply duct 27 and a flow regulator for the water (optional), whichis housed inside an annular valve-housing 47 immediately above theintake manifold 31. The basket 33 constitutes a second part, the thirdpart is a cylindrical external housing 49 which fits around the basket33 and clips onto the mounting flange 35 above the intake manifold 31,and the fourth part is the discharge end 29, which push fits onto theend of the foam supply duct 27.

The upper end of the housing 49 is externally threaded for fitting to afaucet. FIG. 6 shows the nozzle unit 21 screw-fitted to the spout 51 ofa faucet designed for separately dispensing foam soap and water over thebasin of a sink (sink not shown).

The foam soap may be generated using a conventional scheme in whichliquid soap is aerated in a mixing chamber upstream of the foam nozzle23. The mixing chamber (not shown) is preferably located close to theintake end of the foam supply duct 27 and is connected to the intake endof the foam supply duct 27 by a flexible pipe 53, which push-fits on tothe end of the foam supply duct 27. The foam soap thus enters the nozzleunit 21 through the upper end of the foam supply duct 27, passes downthrough the duct 27 and then exits through the flared discharge end 29of the foam nozzle 23 (see FIG. 7). The foam is expanded as it passesthrough the flared discharge end 29, advantageously producing arelatively broad, slow jet of foam soap (represented by the dotted linesin FIG. 7).

The water is supplied to the water nozzle 25 by a conventional mainswater supply. The water enters the nozzle unit 21 through a series ofinlet ports (not visible) on top of the flow regulator and passes viathe flow regulator to the interior of the intake manifold 31. From here,the water is supplied to the inside of the basket 33 via a series ofexit ports 55 running around the outside of the intake manifold 31 andis then discharged through the annular grille 37 at the lower end of thebasket 33 to form an annular stream which passes around the dischargeend 29 of the foam nozzle 23 (see FIG. 8).

The water is aerated inside the basket 33 before it is dischargedthrough the grille 37. This is not essential, but is common practicegenerally for water nozzles on faucets. The air is introduced into thebasket 33 in this case through a series of air intakes in the wall ofthe external housing, which communicate with a ring of air inlet ports59 running around the perimeter of the basket 33 via an annular plenumchamber 61 formed between the basket 33 and the external housing 49.

The flared discharge end 29 of the foam nozzle 23 extends outwardly infront of the annular discharge end of the water nozzle 25, such that thetwo discharge ends overlap. This overlap is illustrated in FIG. 5. Thiskeeps the nozzle unit 21 relatively compact in size.

The nozzle unit 21 may be used in other applications, primarily where itis required to dispense foam and an aerated liquid separately.

The flared discharge end need not be frusto-conical. It mayfrusto-pyramidal, bell-shaped, stepped, fluted etc. The flare does notneed to be symmetric (see FIG. 2).

The flared discharge end of the foam nozzle may be provided with a meshscreen or grille across its outlet—intended to act as an auxiliaryturbulator for the foam immediately prior to discharge.

1. A nozzle assembly for a tap, or faucet, the assembly comprising afirst nozzle and a second nozzle arranged side by side, the secondnozzle having a flared discharge end which flares outwardly in front ofthe discharge end of the first nozzle so that the two discharge endsoverlap.
 2. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, in which the flareddischarge end is conical
 3. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, in which thefirst nozzle at least partly surrounds the second nozzle.
 4. The nozzleassembly of claim 3, in which the first nozzle has an annular dischargeend surrounding the second nozzle, and the second nozzle projects outbeyond the annular discharge end of the first nozzle.
 5. The nozzleassembly of claim 1, in which the two nozzles are divided by a partitionwall.
 6. The nozzle assembly of claim 5, in which the partition wallforms the inner wall of the annular discharge end.
 7. The nozzleassembly of claim 6, in which the partition wall projects out beyond anouter wall of the annular discharge end.
 8. The nozzle assembly of claim7, in which the projecting part of the partition wall is flared to formthe discharge end of the second nozzle.
 9. The nozzle assembly of claim1, in which the flared discharge end is formed as a separate part whichpush fits onto the end of a supply duct forming part of the secondnozzle.
 10. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, in which the discharge endof the second nozzle is provided with a mesh screen or grille forintroducing turbulence to a fluid passing through the discharge end. 11.A faucet provided with a nozzle assembly according to claim
 1. 12. Anarrangement comprising a faucet according to claim 11, the second nozzlebeing connected to a supply of foam soap for discharging foam soapthrough the second nozzle as required, the first nozzle being connectedto a water supply for discharging water through the first nozzle asrequired.